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Alleged Rape Involves Resident Facing Prison On Similar Charge

OCEAN CITY – Two Ocean City men, one of whom has a
sentencing hearing scheduled on Monday in Worcester County Circuit Court for a
conviction on an assault charge in the resort last summer, were arrested this
week after allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl at a resort party early Tuesday
morning.

Ocean City Police this week arrested Senay Haile, 25, and
Semeredin Bederu, 24, both of whom have Ocean City addresses, on second-degree
rape and second-degree assault charges for an alleged attack on a 17-year-old
girl from Cumberland in western Maryland which began with a chance meeting on
the Boardwalk on Monday night.

The alleged sexual assault on Tuesday came less than one
week before Bederu is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on similar charges in
Ocean City last June. Bederu was convicted in December on assault and burglary
charges for an attack on a group of girls in Ocean City last June and has a
sentencing hearing scheduled on Monday for that conviction which could land him
in jail for as many as 10 years.

In the incident this week, the intoxicated victim was
walking on the Boardwalk late Monday night when she was approached by a group
of men near 6th Street. She continued to party with the four men at
an apartment near 6th Street and the party later moved to an
apartment at Jocelyn Manner on 8th Street.

According to police reports, the victim eventually passed
out and was placed in a bedroom in the apartment. It was then, according to
witnesses, that Bederu went into the bedroom and had intercourse with the
passed out victim. During the night, the victim became ill and started to vomit
and she was moved to a sofa in the living room.

Around 8 a.m., Haile tried to have intercourse with the
still passed out victim who suddenly awoke and began screaming. She then fled
the apartment and returned later with a group of male friends to confront her
assailants. Shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, resort police were called to a
disturbance at the apartment where the victim’s friends were confronting her
assailants.

When police arrived, the victim told them about the
attempted rape by Haile, but it wasn’t until detectives interviewed witnesses
at the party that they found out about Bederu’s sexual assault on the victim
hours earlier. The victim was not even aware of the sexual assault on her by
Bederu, according to police.

Bederu and Haile were arrested and charged with
second-degree rape and second-degree assault. Both are currently being held at
the Worcester County Jail on $100,000 bonds.

Tuesday’s alleged rape of the 17-year-old victim continues
a pattern of assault and abuse carried out by Bederu in the resort. Last June,
Ocean City Police responded to an apartment on 4th Street for a
reported breaking and entering. Upon arrival, the officers learned a group of
female victims had gotten off a bus near their apartment when they were
confronted by a man later identified as Bederu.

One of the victims told police Bederu grabbed her arm and
told her to come with him, but when she rebuffed his advances, he threw a
Gatorade bottle at her and hit her in the head. A male friend intervened and
told the girls to run to their apartment and lock the door. Bederu chased the
girls, but they were able to get inside and lock the door. When Bederu crashed
through the glass front door, the girls retreated to a bedroom and locked
themselves in.

After
several unsuccessful attempts to break into the bedroom, Bederu gave up and
left the apartment, but not before dumping a two-liter soft drink bottle all
over the kitchen floor. The police soon arrived and found Bederu staggering
down the street intoxicated. He was arrested and charged with assault, burglary
and malicious destruction.